Martial Arts

[Flying Pig]

Doesn't really count but I did boxing for a very long time - it's a great way to get or stay fit, if only because 'not being beaten by a man twenty years your junior' is a great incentive to train harder. I assume the same holds for all martial arts with a vaguely competitive ethos - I know some of them are more for show than that (kung fu?) but others can be closer to 'proper' boxing.

 

[Bad Player]

I took tae kwon do when I was younger. I was thinking of getting back into martial arts but blew a disk so that idea is on hold for now.

Any martial art will help with self defense, fitness, reflexes, and flexibility, so it's more a matter of what style you like best.

I disagree. Learning a dud martial art will reduce your self defence because it will give you a false sense of confidence.

Old school UFC gave many good ideas on which ones work and which ones don't. E.g. Don't learn tae kwon do unless it's just for fun not to be good at fighting.

If wing chun Kung fu works as a deadly defence system then why do armies not teach it instead of their own systems (e.g. Krav magar)? And if you remove the "deadly" aspect of it then why don't UFC fighters (who have a large vested financial interest in being the best fighters) learn it?

 

[Zelig]

I'll probably join a colleague for some BJJ this week, just to try it. He's a few years younger, probably 6 inches shorter and 20kgs lighter than me. He's been practising this several times a week for over a year now and I've kind of been a bit cocky about me still being able to take him down.
I think the training ends with some sparring.

Who'd win a match?

You don't have a chance.

 

[Quackers]

Martial arts are a waste of time. Just get a pistol and shoot

 

[NetGear]

1. Forget about defending yourself. Real life application is slim to none. Real fight is not a match.

2. As a sport, its really upto what you enjoy. They all teach you tenacity, discipline and work you out anyway. Ive done boxing, wrestling and tkd and theyre all fun in their own way. If you want a lil bit of all go with new mma styles.

 

[Mad Man]

I once took taekwondo class when I was a kid, I didn't get too much out of it though. Interesting enough, while attempting to use a blocking movie I learned, I accidently knocked four kids out in playground brawl.

 

[Arwon]

1. Forget about defending yourself. Real life application is slim to none. Real fight is not a match.

I get the impression that if you get to a good high level in anything (be it karate, boxing, wrestling, whatevs) you'll be able to handle yourself in most situations, but not necessarily because of the specific training, but rather because of the conditioning and awareness and such.

 

[innonimatu]

If wing chun Kung fu works as a deadly defence system then why do armies not teach it instead of their own systems (e.g. Krav magar)? And if you remove the "deadly" aspect of it then why don't UFC fighters (who have a large vested financial interest in being the best fighters) learn it?

Oh, yeah, because the israelis are known for going hand-to-hand with the palestinians, instead of just shooting them.

Why are people so ready to swallow every kind of propaganda? Because they wish to believe it. You wish to believe that "martial arts" have some practical application these days. Well, the only practical application you're likely to ever find is making money from teaching them to people like you.

You like it, do it as a hobby. Don't fool yourself about the "martial" aspect. Don't pick based on that illusion.

 

[Bad Player]

I know a few bouncers who are good at Muai Thai and they hurt people badly when they punch on.

Krav magar I have not seen just heard of it.

 

[Benefactor]

Why are people so ready to swallow every kind of propaganda? Because they wish to believe it. You wish to believe that "martial arts" have some practical application these days. Well, the only practical application you're likely to ever find is making money from teaching them to people like you.

You like it, do it as a hobby. Don't fool yourself about the "martial" aspect. Don't pick based on that illusion.

Oh, I'm pretty sure a professional Boxer/MMAer/Kickerboxer etc. could kick both our arses put together, unless you're a 7 foot 20 stone slab of pure muscle .

 

[Hygro]

Is anyone on this forum trained in martial arts? I've been thinking of joining a club recently, for the dual purposes of keeping me fit and also for the obvious protection benefits. The most common self-defence system near me is Krav Maga; taught by two or three institutes very close to where I live. Unfortunately I haven't heard much good about it. At the end of the day though, all I want is some fitness, fun and a way to defend myself. Alternatives include Muay Thai, kickboxinig and karate. Krav Maga just seems the most... useful, so to speak.

Has a knowledge of the martial arts come in useful for anyone? Managed to escape tricky situations because of it?

And proficiency with any martial art combined with an ability to completely improvise will help you in physical situations. But over all, few martial arts are particularly good for combat given how many people who start fights carry guns and knives.

Given that, I'll pitch my hat for judo. It's really fun, and you get to start fighting almost immediately. It can be converted to practical application, if you care, but overall its a good philosophy, a good sport, a good workout, a good method of teaching you mastery of your body, and is loads of fun.

Doesn't really count but I did boxing for a very long time - it's a great way to get or stay fit, if only because 'not being beaten by a man twenty years your junior' is a great incentive to train harder. I assume the same holds for all martial arts with a vaguely competitive ethos - I know some of them are more for show than that (kung fu?) but others can be closer to 'proper' boxing.

Boxing definitely counts!

 

[Hygro]

Here's a story I wrote on judoforum.

A lil' background, I was asking them if I should train 2 days a week, per my PE course, or if I should also join the club and make it 5 days a week. There was some argument but overall most said "ask your sensei, don't over do it, but do it fully" p)

**
So the sensei said "train five days a week!" so I began the mon/wed/fri evenings. The first day was last friday, and there were about 7 beginners and no judo black belts or masters there to teach us, so the yongmudo sensei from the previous hour kept his advanced students there (many of them were trained in judo as well, including the yongmudo chief) and they got as going. It was fun, we mostly did rolls and beginning stuff, and learned a basic trip.

Then today it was totally different. The yongmudo class was out right away, and our sensei showed up. Not the one who teaches the morning class, but his helper, a korean judo champion who speaks about nineteen words of english. There were three of us beginners there to train. Me, a 6'1 (but I slouch) 140 pound guy, a big 6'4" inathletic dude who has less body intuition than I do, and this 5'6" super athletic dude, who didn't have a gi.

Goddamn it was the jam. Even though he couldn't really speak, he got the 50 minutes we had going so fast and so productive. A lil' warmup, some breakfalls we haven't officially learned in the morning PE course (but i already knew from a previous stint) a couple rolls, but mostly we practiced technique. At some point a taekwondo 5th degree fellow (at a place with no belt inflation... not sure if belt inflation even happens that far?) who was also highly proficient in judo came and translated our sensei for us, which helped a lot.

Because I was tall, I kept being pared off with the really tall guy. He has 80+ pounds on me. It ended up being fairly equal because I got about 2/3 of what was going on, he got the other 1/3 (little overlap, weirdly) and he had a size advantage.

Because of the mon/wed/fri sensei, we don't do as strenuous a warmup and we spend our time practicing technique. It's still a work out, though. Anyway, what this tells me is that I'm not likely to burn out because rather than overtraining, I'm just gaining better momentum in my judo study.

 

[Synobun]

I've found the best application of any martial arts in a real life situation is to not put yourself in a stance. You make yourself look like a fool and frankly they only work in the movies and sports. Keep yourself grounded and prepared for any attack, in a real situation you will regret spreading your legs to a near-split and holding your palm in front of you.

My only experience with martial arts does not involve styles as I never bothered to know them nor did my father tell me them. I don't care about what a style is called, as long as it works, and I feel that if I were to go to a dojo for a specific style that it would severely hamper my adaptive abilities in a real life application.

However it doesn't really matter, being crippled has removed the possibility of any further training in martial arts.

 

[Bad Player]

One thing I should mention that is an advantage of training a credible striking martial art is that new guys that come and train MMA and get punched in the nose (even with 16 oz gloves) get watery eyes and in the real world a lot of guys freak out when they get hit in the face the first few times. Also from seeing some minor street fights I've noticed guys try to rush in with a punch then run away out of range because they are scared of getting hit.

So in conclusion, practising getting hit makes you freak out less in real life I suspect.

 

[Zelig]

One thing I should mention that is an advantage of training a credible striking martial art is that new guys that come and train MMA and get punched in the nose (even with 16 oz gloves) get watery eyes and in the real world a lot of guys freak out when they get hit in the face the first few times. Also from seeing some minor street fights I've noticed guys try to rush in with a punch then run away out of range because they are scared of getting hit.

So in conclusion, practising getting hit makes you freak out less in real life I suspect.

It also gives you long-term permanent brain damage.

 

[Benefactor]

It also gives you long-term permanent brain damage.

I think you're exaggerating, or being sarcastic. I've heard of some professional boxers suffering various problems in later life, but if it only takes a few hard blows then I'm already brain-damaged from all the head related accidents I had growing up .

 

[Zelig]

I think you're exaggerating, or being sarcastic. I've heard of some professional boxers suffering various problems in later life, but if it only takes a few hard blows then I'm already brain-damaged from all the head related accidents I had growing up .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy

No exaggeration, it's present in professional wrestlers, hockey players and football players, as early as their 30s.

 

[ParkCungHee]

I'll probably join a colleague for some BJJ this week, just to try it. He's a few years younger, probably 6 inches shorter and 20kgs lighter than me. He's been practising this several times a week for over a year now and I've kind of been a bit cocky about me still being able to take him down.
I think the training ends with some sparring.

Who'd win a match?

If it's BJJ he'll be happy to let you take him down. BJJ doesn't stop when you go to the mat. As soon as your start pushing him down, he'll let himself fall and pull you into his guard. Then you're in trouble.

 

[nc-1701]

I've trained Aikido for 6 years, and mixed that in with sparring and sharing with wrestlers, TKD, Karate, BJJ, and Kung fu people for about 3 years so far in college. Fought 3 TKD point sparring fights and lost all 3 on decisions, fought one full-contact Karate tournament with pads (semi-knockdown rule set) and won it. I definitely consider myself fairly well rounded at this point and would like to get into more full contact competition this summer. I definitely think the training has made me better in just about every way, I'm healthier, tougher, and more confident as a result of it.

I'de stay away from krav maga and do the Muy Thai or kickboxing just because krav maga is so commercialized in America. But honestly the variation between schools is way higher than the variation between arts. Thats what people forget when they compare arts, I know a TKD school with students who have destroyed Muy Thai people in amateur MMA tournaments despite the prevailing anti-TKD sentiment in MMA. It's all in the school not the art, at least below the elite level.

 

[Supr49er]

I take Sil Lum Kung Fu. Very demanding physically and mentally. Flexibility and strength get greatly improved.